NEWS ROUNDUP

Biden on Boeing lockout | Historic joint organizing | Beautiful Day

Friday, May 10, 2024

AEROSPACE

► From Reuters — Biden concerned over Boeing firefighters’ lockout — U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday he is concerned that Boeing has locked out its unionized firefighters, raising pressure on the U.S. planemaker to resolve the contract dispute. Earlier this month, Boeing locked out nearly 130 members of the IAFF Local I-66 who have rejected two contract offers. Jon Holden, president of the IAM District 751 which represents Seattle-area workers and is currently negotiating for a new contract:

“We appreciate the support from U.S. President Joe Biden and think it’s important that he supports collective bargaining.”

From The STAND (May 5) — Join locked-out Boeing firefighters on picket lines

EDITOR’S NOTE — Also check out IAFF’s new Boeing Lock-Out website.

► From the Seattle Times — It’s now time to address the Boeing Problem or more turbulence awaits (by Jon Talton) — On May 17, the company will hold its annual shareholders meeting, where the agenda includes electing directors, deciding executive compensation and voting on shareholder proposals… Put a union member on the board of directors. Most of Boeing’s directors are executives, bringing the same mindset that caused the Boeing Problem.

► From Reuters — SEC investigating Boeing’s statements on its safety practices — The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether statements made by Boeing about its safety practices after a mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX flight in January misled investors in violation of the Wall Street regulator’s rules, a report said.

► From The Hill — Petition calls on DOJ to investigate deaths of Boeing whistleblowers — More than 25,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Department of Justice to investigate the recent deaths of two Boeing whistleblowers as the company remains under intense scrutiny.

LOCAL

► From the Cascadia Daily News — PeaceHealth clinicians push for historic union vote — Hospitalists in Bellingham and Sedro-Woolley took an unprecedented step this week toward unionizing (Union of American Physicians and Dentists/AFSCME) as both PeaceHealth and Sound Physicians employees. These clinicians specialize in the general care of hospitalized patients at St. Joseph Medical Center and United General Medical Center, but are directly employed by Sound Physicians, a for-profit national labor management company. The hospitalists said the arrangement curtails their abilities to advocate for patients’ needs in the hospital and creates an environment that is fueling burnout. An NLRB ruling in favor of the clinicians on Wednesday marks the first time clinicians have succeeded in creating a joint-employer union petition, legally connecting their labor management agency and the hospital they work at — forcing all key players to the table during negotiations.

► From KOIN — Legacy Health’s primary care providers consider unionizing — Legacy Health’s primary care providers could be the next to unionize. On Wednesday, a group of 150 workers across the healthcare company’s primary care clinics in Oregon and Southwest Washington sent union authorization cards to the NLRB.

READY FOR A VOICE AT WORK? Get more information about how you can join together with co-workers and negotiate for better wages and working conditions. Or go ahead and contact a union organizer today!

► From PubliCola — Seattle City Council bill cutting ‘gig’ delivery workers’ pay moves forward — The Seattle City Council’s governance and economic development committee approved a bill sponsored by Council President Sara Nelson that will lower the minimum wage for so-called “gig” delivery workers on Thursday. The 4-1 vote came after hours of testimony from delivery drivers who were overwhelmingly opposed to the legislation and have shown up at public comment periods for weeks on end to ask the council not to cut their wages.

From The STAND (Mar. 26) — Seattle unions fight to save gig workers’ wage ordinance

► From Crosscut — Advocates say Seattle’s $1.45B transportation tax isn’t enough — A coalition is asking to increase the levy to $1.9B for more bike and pedestrian safety measures — which a poll found a majority of voters might support.

► From the union-busting Columbian — Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive set for Saturday — Clark County residents can leave nonperishable food donations near their mailboxes by 9 a.m., and letter carriers or volunteers will do the rest.

From The STAND — Leave food donations by your mailbox on May 11 — NALC’s Stamp Out Hunger® Food Drive will provide an urgently needed boost for food banks in your community.

THAT WASHINGTON

► From the AP — Senate passes FAA reauthorization bill, sending legislation to the House — The bipartisan bill, which comes after a series of close calls between planes at the nation’s airports, aims to boost the number of air traffic controllers amid a shortage, improve safety standards and make it easier for customers to get refunds after flights are delayed or canceled, among other measures.

► From On Labor — When employers violate the NLRA, the harm is always irreparable (by Andrew Strom) — The Supreme Court recently heard argument in Starbucks Corp. v. McKinney, a case where employers are trying to make it more difficult for the NLRB to obtain preliminary injunctions that undo an employer’s illegal acts while a case is pending. Without a preliminary injunction, an employer can interfere with organizing rights or refuse to bargain, knowing that it will take years before it is required to comply with a final judgment. Everyone agrees that to obtain a preliminary injunction, the NLRB must show that in the absence of an injunction there will likely be irreparable harm. The fight is over what constitutes irreparable harm. This is an instance where we should watch what employers do, and not what they say. Employers often make exceedingly weak arguments to the NLRB, and exhaust their appeals because they understand that the delay imposes harms on workers, and under current law workers are not compensated for those harms.

► From Politico — Trump pressed oil executives to give $1 billion for his campaign — Former President Donald Trump asked oil industry executives last month to donate $1 billion to aid his campaign to retake the White House — a request that campaign finance experts said appeared troubling but is probably legal.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Thanks, Supreme Court!

NATIONAL

► From Jacobin — When the Longshoremen said ‘enough’ (by Cal Winslow) — Ninety years ago, longshoremen led a militant wave of strikes that encompassed every West Coast port. In cities like Seattle, the 1934 strike became more than a labor action — it became a mass movement. On the morning of May 9, 1934, a rejuvenated International Longshoremen’s Association struck shippers in the West Coast ports, shutting down them all from Bellingham to San Diego. Seattle’s dockers, some 1,500, walked off their jobs that morning to face an array of hostile shippers united to maintain an “open shop” and the “fink hall” on Elliott Bay, as well as hundreds of scabs reporting to work on city piers. Seattle was the coast’s second-leading port, the hub of a dozen Columbia River, coastal, and Puget Sound ports, second only to San Fransisco in volume of goods passing over its piers.

► From the Washington Post — McDonald’s, Wendy’s shareholders demand companies tackle child-labor problems — In letters sent Tuesday, the shareholders urged the boards of directors at McDonald’s and Wendy’s to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for the use of child labor at franchised restaurants. They also asked the companies to conduct third-party human rights risk assessments of their businesses, among other demands.

T.G.I.F.

► The Entire Staff of The Stand is going on vacation and won’t be back until Tuesday, May 28. In the interim, the Acting Entire Staff of The Stand will post news sporadically — including any developments in the IBEW 46 strike, the Boeing Firefighters’ lockout, and the results of the WSLC’s COPE Endorsement Convention on May 18. Until then, today’s forecast in Seattle is sunny and 80°. In Dublin, it’s sunny and 71°. We hope you enjoy this beautiful day. Don’t let it get away.

The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.